Switch



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Patented May 18, 1943 SWITCH Lawrence E. Fisher, Detroit, Mich., assigner to Bulldog Electric Products Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of West Virginia Application July 3, 194i), Serial No. 343,839

(Cl. 21M- 16) i Claim.

This application relates to switches.

In a prior patent, No. 2,154,236, of April 11, 1939, there is disclosed a switch comprising a box having an open front, closed by a hinged cover. On the back of the box are stationary contacts adapted to be bridged by movable contacts within and forming part of movable contact heads which are moved towards and away from the back of the box by means of a transverse bail or cross bar, whose ends are journalled in the sides of the box. A lever type handle o-n the front cover of the box and accessible from the front may be manipulated to move the bail and the heads connected thereto towards and away from the back of the box for closing or opening the switches. It is to this type of switch that the improvements hereof relate.

In the switch herein disclosed, a novel mechanism and arrangement is shown, in-

cluding a rocker handle and means for moving the movable contact heads of the switch towards and away from the back of the box in a guided path for closing and opening the circuits.

In the switch of the aforesaid patent, all of the movable contact heads are secured to a bail and movement of that bail to and from the back of the box may be caused by a lever type handle so as to move the heads.

In the switch herein disciosed, no transverse bail is employed. Instead, the movable contact heads for the switch have holes through which pass pins secured to a switching member and this member is moved by a rocker handle towards and away from the back of the box for switching action. The arrangements herein disclosed in- :a

cludes links so arranged that the heads are caused to move simultaneously and in parallel paths.

The arrangement herein disclosed for so guiding the contact heads may best be understood upon reference tc the appended drawings. In the drawings,

Figs. l and 2 show a parallel link arrangement;

Fig. 3 is a plan view, with the cover cut away.

Figs. -fi--G show .ie Contact set.

Fig. 'I is an exploded view of parts of Fig. 3.

The switching arrangement shown comprises an integral unitary assembly which can be disposed, as a unit, within a switch box il? having v a back l l and an open front closed by a movable or hinged cover i2, having a slot for the mechanism handle, and arranged to be independent of the mechanism, On the back l l is an insulation base I4 which mounts three pairs of stationary Contact prongs l5, with the contacts of each pair being bridged for circuit closing by movable contacts 15a, disposed within and forming part of movable contact heads lli. For operating and guiding these heads in their movement towards and away from the back I l of the box, the means herein disclosed have been provided and these will now be described.

It will be understood at the outset that in the mechanism disclosed, the operative connection between the mechanism and the switching heads i6 is established by means of pins ll' secured to and projecting from a switching member in each mechanism, with the pins passing through holes of the heads so that movement of the pins will cause movement of the heads, with the heads being easily detachable from and attachable to the mechanism for assembly and replacement.

In the mechanism of Figs. 1 to 2, the member to which are secured pins l1 is a plate 20, which is pivotally connected at 22 to parallel links 23 in turn connected at 24 to a member 25 secured to a side of the box. The plate 2) is also pivotally connected at 2E to an overcenter compression spring 2l, which has an end connected at 2S to a lug forming part of a member 29 mounted on the other side of the box. A pin 30, projecting forwardly from the upper link 23, rides in a slot 3l of an arm 32 forming an extension of a rocker push only no-pull handle 33 which is pivotally mounted in the cover l2 of the box on pivot 34.

When the handle 33 is rocked, the switching heads move to close or open the circuit. Spring 2l functions as an over-center spring in each movement to provide snap action.

In each movement of the plate 25, it moves towards and away from the box back without disturbing its parallel relation to the box back and thus the switching heads are not cocked in their travel but remain level or parallel t0 the box back and move perpendicular thereto dueto the parallel links.

Now having described the switch hereof, reference should be had to the claim which follows for a determination of the invention hereof.

I claim:

A multipole switch having a plurality of stationary contacts and a plurality of movable contacts, these being arranged in a row and coplanar, and movable in generally parallel paths in the plane of that row but perpendicular to that row, a rocker push only handle disposed in and operating in a plane generally coplanar with the plane of the row of movable contacts, with its axis perpendicular to the plane of the row of movable contacts and of the handle, a mechanism operatively connecting the handle and mov able contacts for translating rocker motion of the handle into the desired motion of the movable contacts, the mechanism being arranged in the plane of the handle and movable contacts and occupying about the same amount of space as the handle and movable contacts, measured in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the row, that is, along the handle axis.

LAWRENCE E. FISHER. 

